Tiny Brains (Game Review)

Tiny Brains cannot be picked up and played by a single person. The game places heavy emphasis on cooperation, with up to four players. This is why I enlisted the help of my brother, who played through the entire game with me (thanks!). The game is a co-op puzzle-platformer, after all.

Tiny Brains puts each player (up to four) in control of their own “Tiny Brain”. The Tiny Brains are these small, colorful little critters created in a lab by some outrageous scientist whose voice acting was incredibly amusing to listen to. Each Tiny Brain has its own ability, unique to itself. The green one is able to suck objects towards it, the purple one propels objects away from it, the red one swaps its position with an object, and the blue one can form a block of ice at will, which can serve as both a platform and a weapon.

The gameplay itself is for the most part, solid. I did notice a fair bit of clipping issues, where I’d get stuck in a toy tree or some other random object. I usually brought this upon myself by bringing objects towards me using the green Tiny Brain, but still a noticeable issue around larger objects (a large telephone in my case).

The puzzles in the game were relatively well-balanced. Not too many difficult ones, not too many easy ones. The game struck this perfect harmony in difficulty and kept us playing. The puzzles themselves incorporate each of the Tiny Brain’s abilities, so they’re a bit easy to understand once you can comprehend which character uses which ability. I should also mention that the game changes dramatically based on the amount of players present. You can go at the game alone, but it is nowhere near as fun as playing it with others.

Tiny Brains makes use of the childish type of graphics you’d find in any modern 3D platformer, and that’s not a bad thing, I certainly enjoyed the visuals. The game’s setting really shined when we were presented with actual-sized objects, like a giant telephone, in which we were able to jump on the buttons to dial separate numbers. Tiny Brains constantly reminded me of a classic game I had played as a kid, Mouse Trap. You know, that game with the innumerable amount of parts that required assembling on the board.

Tiny Brains is an excellent option for those looking for a fun co-op experience, and its biggest appeal is probably the younger audience, but I believe it can also be enjoyed by just about anyone. The game does come with one epic flaw, and that would be the length of the game. It took my brother and I about two hours to beat the campaign. Keep in mind that this does not include the various other modes offered, of which there are several (and they’re quite fun!). Tiny Brains was a memorable experience, and I urge you all to try it out for yourselves.